Little Sister
by LucyTheOutsider
Summary: Jack has a kid sister whom he takes on Titanic with him.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Fifteen year old Jack Dawson was babysitting his little sister, Gabby, who was three. She had fallen asleep, curled up in front of the fire. As it was getting late, he was gonna carry her into the next room that they shared, and put her to bed.

There was a knock at the door and he got up and walked over and opened the door. There was a police officer there. He was a friend of his fathers. His name was Officer John Williams.

Jack stood back to let him in. "Is something wrong, John?" he asked.  
John sat down. "Jack, come here."

Jack sat down next to him.

John looked at him and said, "There's been an accident. Your parents…they were killed."  
Jack jumped up. "No. They can't be."  
"Son, it is them. I made sure."  
"H-how?"  
"There was a fire…"  
Jack closed his eyes.  
"You and Gabby will have to go to an orphanage."  
"No. I won't go. And neither will she. I'll take care of her."  
"Jack-"  
"She's my sister- my only family. I'll look after her."  
"Son, you can't. The law says orphans under sixteen must go to an orphanage."  
"I'll be sixteen next month."  
"She'll still be three."  
"I'll pull her out. I'm her family and will be of age."  
"Are you sure you want to take care of her? She can cause trouble…"  
"She's my sister. I won't abandon her."

_So yeah, Jack has a little sister who'syounger than him. They'll go to an orphanage for a month or so, and Jack will be her guardian. Jack will be nineeen on Titanic and she'll be six._


	2. Lucky Poker Hand

_Five Years Later..._

A young girl sat in a pub, watching her much older brother play poker.

"Jack, can we go yet?" She whined. She was hungry.  
"In a minute, after this hand."  
"You said than a whole day ago!"  
"It's almost over."

This game was gonna be interesting. One of the Swedes he was playing with had bet his tickets to the _Titanic_, the biggest ship in the world AND it was unsinkable. It was going to America today.

"The moment of truth boys. Somebody's life's about to change." Jack said. Gabby walked over to the table, watching.  
The Swedes and Fabrizio put down their cards.  
Jack continued. "Let's see... Fabrizio's got _niente_. Olaf, you've got squat. Sven, uh oh... two pair... mmm. Sorry, Fabrizio.  
"What sorry? What you got? You lose my money? _Ma va fa'n culo testa di cazzo_--"  
Jack interuppted, "Sorry, you're not gonna see your mama again for a long time..."  
Jack slapped down his cards onto the table. It was a full house.

Gabby let out a shriek "We're going to America!" She reached around and grabbed the tickets and gave her brother a hug. "Hungry are you? Well, you'll eat like a Princess on the _Titanic_!" He started raking the money into their bag. One of the Swedes grabbed Jack by his shirt. Gabby shoved her hand into her apron pocket, which held a slingshot and some rocks and dried clay. She pulled it out and aimed at him, but had no need to, as he turned around and clobbered his friend. Jack and Gabby laughed.

Meanwhile, Fabrizio was saying "I go America!" over and over. The pubkeeper finally said "No, mate. _Titanic_ goes to America- in five minutes." Jack, Gabby and Fabrizio all swore. They took off running. Gabby was falling behind. "Jack!" she called. He turned, and saw she couldn't keep up and handed Fabrizio the bag and scooped her up, and ran, banging into ladies and gentlemen and being cursed at. They jumped over some luggage and Gabby shrieked, and closed her eyes and clung to his shirt. They finally reached the gate and she opened her eyes and saw an officer and stuck her thumb in her mouth, and tried to look as small as possible, because then she could probaly get in free. Jack lied to the guy about being through the inspection. The officer bent down towards Gabby and said "And how old are you?" She pulled her thumb out and held up four fingers. The officer nodded "Right, come aboard." Jack and Fabrizio jumped the gap. Jack hurried to the rail, lifted his sister onto his shoulders, and she started screaming farewells and waving. Fabrizo, although he was a good friend of theirs, didn't really understand their way of life. It was live life by the moment. Like now. It didn't matter if they didn't know anybody, but it was the great fun they had.

Once everyone was leaving the deck to go settle in, Jack lifted Gabby off his shoulders, and put her down on the floor. She jumped up and down, as she was so excited to be here. Jack found the room, and she plopped down on the bottom bunk, and Fabrizo got the top bunk. "I want Bunny." She said. He dug into their sack, and found her teddy bear. She called him Bunny because when she was a baby, Jack had held the bear up to her and drilled it into her that it was a bunny, and so she called Bunny that. And Jack had been in a lot of trouble for that prank.


	3. Family

_Hey everyone. I'm so sorry I like abandoned this story. But I have good reason, but it's no excuse not to give any warning. I have a very serious disease. I even came close to dying. I'm better now, but it's hard. I'm trying to get back into my writing, and hopefully this chapter will be good. I'm skipping some time, and changing what I originally planned because I've improved (I hope) and grew since then. _

_**April 17, 1912: Noontime**_

He was in London. The fog was so thick that he couldn't see far past his face. He could hear footsteps. Very slow. Blue eyes came through the mist. A  
face and skirt and shirt formed. Gabby. She stepped closer, slowly. A skinny arm reached out. "Jackie? Why didn't you help me? I'm dead  
because of you. You were supposed to take care of me! You're supposed to save me, not kill me!"

Jack jerked awake. A dream, thank God. But she had been right. He was supposed to protect her. He got to his feet, walking over to the railing, looking out at the dark waters. Was she in those frigid waters now? Or had she survived? Rose joined him at the railing and he wrapped his arm around her waist. He finally spoke.

"Do you think she survived?"  
"Does she know how to swim?"  
"Not well enough."  
"We both know how cold that water was. Her body was awful small for waters that cold. You barely made it, and you were half in the water."  
He swore angrily. "I'm her big brother, Rose. I was supposed to protect her, not send her to her death!"

He lowered his head so Rose wouldn't see his tears, burying his face in the bear she had given him the last time she saw him.

_"Gabby, get on the boat this instant." His voice was weary. The girls he had were too stubborn to get on without him. Rose relented, climbing on, as the brother and sister duo glared at Cal._

_Gabby looked at the tiny boat on the dark water and then back at the brightly lit ship. "I wanna stay with you."  
He made his voice hard so she'd listen. "Gabrielle Elizabeth Dawson, you will get on this boat this instant, or God help me, I'll spank you in front of everyone right this instant." It had been a bluff, but she had yet to figure out when he was bluffing or telling the truth. He could never hurt a hair on her head. He never so much as raised a hand to her, although she could be a little brat. The only time he had disciplined her was when he washed her mouth out for calling him "a fucking fucker" after more than ample warning. She still swore, but never at him._

_She frowned and looked at the bear in her arms. "Keep Bunny safe for me?" He nodded and put her in the boat, and held up Bunny and made one of the stuffed arms wave goodbye. Then Rose and Gabby had jumped off, but Gabby had ran off, hiding so he wouldn't spank her. Damn his bluff._

Meanwhile, a young girl of six years was waking up. She had been wrapped in more blankets than she had been the last time she awoke. When she heard them talking about how few survivors there were while there were so many passengers. Did her brother live? What about Rose?

A nurse came over and spoke. "I know you're awake. You have to face it sooner or later. We should be in New York City tomorrow. Go up on deck and look for them."

Gabby slid out the bed, and obediently tugged the door open and went up on deck.

She took soup from a woman handing it out and she took a sip of the hot broth before it cooled. She froze when she saw a couple looking out at the sea. Her soup dropped to her feet, forgotten. "Jack!" She yelled, and her brother turned, his eyes wide as he saw her running towards her. His arm dropped from Rose's waist and he ran towards his sister. They met halfway, both sobbing. He grabbed her up in a hug. Her dress was tugged up, showing her petticoats and pantaloons, but she didn't care. Jack was alive! He swung her around in his arms, the siblings laughing. "Don't ever leave me!" Gabby sobbed. She buried her face in Jack's neck. "I promise." He said.  
"You promised Mama and Papa we'd stay together. Then you put me on the boat."

_Jack held his little sister to his chest. He knelt at the double graves of his parents. "I'll keep her with me always. I promise. I'll never let her out of my site, and try and protect and raise her like you would." He mentally added, 'but what am I to do? I know horse shit about how to care for little girls. How do i get her to eat her vegtables? How do I know whats appropiate for a little girl. How do I disipline her? She's sweet, but she's not perfect. Sooner or later, she'll do something. Do I spank her? Is that okay for a little girl? What do I do?'_

_A police officer came over. "It's time to go, son." He went to take Gabby from her brother, but they tightened their gaze. "I'll look after her." He said and stood and he carried the child out of the graveyard and down the road to the orphanage. Their new lodgings for now. But it wouldn't be home. Home was with his parents. _

Rose came over. "You dropped this." She handed the bear to Jack, and he took it and handed to her. "I kept him safe, just like you wanted." She threw her arms around him again and the newly reunited family went into the dining room for dinner.

The next day, they left the ship as Mr and Mrs Jack Dawson and Miss Gabrielle Dawson, little sister. They started over. But the important thing was they were together.


	4. Plans

A reporter came scurrying over to a small and tired family. "Were you on the titanic?" The redheaded wife shook her head, and the blonde husband shifted the dozing child carefully. If she awoke, she'd tell everyone, and they couldn't be caught by Rose's family now. The reporter let them go ahead. They followed a crewman to a hotel that was offering free rooms and food for the survivors. It was nearly full, and they got one of the last rooms, with only one double bed. They climbed the steps up to the room and opened the door. Rose went to wash and Jack made for the bed, sitting on the edge of it. Jack lowered Gabby to the floor to take off her clothing to put her to bed, she awoke, her sleepy gaze going around the room.

Jack looked her in the eyes and said, "Gabby, if anyone asks your name, you're to say it is Elizabeth Dawson. Rose is Molly Dawson, my wife. I am James Dawson, like Papa. And you can decide on if you want to be our daughter or sister."

She frowned in thought. "Not even _you're_ old enough to be my papa like Papa was. But maybe like Uncle Jack's son? What's the word again?"

"Adopted." Her brother supplied.  
She nodded, thinking. "How 'bout that?"  
Jack nodded. "It could work. I adopted you after your parents died, and then married Rose or Molly before we set sail. Understand?" She nodded.  
He smiled. "Good. Now get ready for bed. We'll get our strength here, and then we'll get money." He gave her a significant look. "So we can have money to live on and to buy art supplies." She nodded. "Okay, Papa. The usual?" He nodded. "Normally, you are never ever to steal. But we lost everything when Titanic sank. Except each other and Bunny."

He unturned her around and untied her apron. "When is she going to go home?"  
"She's not."  
She jerked around. "But it's always been just us! We're a team! We dont just add someone whnever we feel like it!"  
"Don't repeat this, but I love everything about her. I love her, Gabs. You need a woman in your life. Especially since you swear so much."  
"I get that from you." She retorted.  
"I know, and I shouldn't swear around you anymore."  
She scowled and said something under her breath that he couldn't make out but had a fair guess to the gist of it.

"_What _did you just say?"  
"That I hate her and I'd be better off drowning on the ship!"  
He frowned. "You don't mean that."  
"You can fucking bet on it!"  
"Watch your language, young lady."  
She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it wisely, and pulled the apron over her head, and her navy blue dress off, and tugged down her petticoats, leaving her in her underdress. She stomped on them, and climbed into the bed, and tugged the covers over her head. Jack sighed and picked them up and shook them out and draped them over the bottom of the bed. She was soon fast asleep, her back gently rising and falling with each breath. Jack crawled up to her face, kissing her cheek. Rose came back into the hotel room, carrying her clothes. Jack smiled at the site of her and undressed then kissed her briefly. He went over to the bed, and lifted his sleeping sister and set her on the edge of the bed, and he and Rose climbed into the bed, falling asleep, his arm slung over Rose.

"We're gonna be okay. We survived the sinking, and we'll be a family. Once we get our strength and back on our feet, we'll go to California. I'll do portraits again. You can work too, but only if you want to. Gabby's been itching for me to teach her how to read. Maybe you can teach her the woman stuff." He spoke softly and they fell asleep.


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**-August 24, 1919-**

A thin girl pulled back the threadbare curtains, balancing a bucket full of soapy water in her other arm. If one observed the girl, they would see that it was a practiced move. The war had been over for a good month, and the soldiers kept coming. Rose kept helping them in the little ways. Like cleaning clothes, which was why Gabby had so many chores to do now. She took care of the house and Jack, Junior while Rose did the laundry and worked. She sighed sadly as her blue eyes found the gold star. It had become customary during this war for the women at home to stitch blue stars for every man in the war. They made gold ones for the boys who were killed. Theirs was gold. Gabby didn't believe that Jack was dead. She knew he'd be coming home. He had promised. She had kept the blue star she and Rose had stitched sewn into the inside of her apron pocket. Jack would come home. She was about to drop the curtain when her gaze found a man looking up at her window, with a grin. He had dirty blonde hair and an infectious smile.

"Jack?" She dropped the bucket, the water going over her feet. She ran down the steps, her skirts in her hand, her hair flying, her feet pounding each wooden step. She jumped the last ones and ran to him, her arms outspread.

"JACK!" She screamed, relieved. He knelt down and held his arms open, and despite her being too old to be such a child, she ran into them and he picked her up. She threw her arms around him, sobbing happy tears. "You came home!"

"Well, I had a promise to keep to you, didn't I?"

"Never ever leave us again!"

"Never. I promise."

The window Gabby had been watching from previously opened and a woman with red hair and a red headed baby on her hip leaned out and called, "Elizabeth! If I told you once-" She stopped short when she saw who was home. Her lips silently formed one single name. Jack.

She left the window and came running downstairs. Jack put his little sister down and met his wife and baby.

Gabby was left standing there, watching. But she didn't mind. Jack was home. To stay.


End file.
